barb
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barb¹
- /bɑː(ɹ)b/
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)b
Where it comes from
PIE word
*bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.
noun barbs
- The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else. Having two barbs or points.
- A hurtful or disparaging remark. to trade barbs
- A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.
- A barbel on a fish's face. The barbel is so called […]by reason of his barbs, or wattles at his mouth.
- One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
-
Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
Similar: barbel
-
The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
Similar: Carolina whiting, king whiting, southern kingcroaker, southern kingfish
- A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.
- A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners.
- Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen.
- A bit for a horse. His loftie steed with golden sell And goodly gorgeous barbes.
- A plastic fastener, shaped roughly like a capital I (with serifs), used to attach socks etc. to their packaging.
verb barbs · barbing · barbed
- To furnish with barbs, or with that which will hold or hurt like barbs, as an arrow, fishhook, spear, etc. […] for this day will pour down, / If I conjecture aught, no drizzling shower, / But rattling storm of arrows barbed with fire.
- To cut (hair).
- To shave or dress the beard of.
- To clip; to mow. O thou pale ſober night, / […] / The ſtooping Sitheman that dooth barbe the field, / Thou makſt winke ſure: […]
barb²
- /bɑː(ɹ)b/
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)b
Where it comes from
Clipping of Barbary.
noun barbs
- The Barbary horse, a superior breed introduced from Barbary into Spain by the Moors. Why sends not the Bridegroom his promised gift, / Is his heart more cold, or his barb less swift?
- A blackish or dun variety of pigeon, originally brought from Barbary.
barb³
- /bɑː(ɹ)b/
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)b
Where it comes from
Clipping of barbiturate.
noun barbs
- A barbiturate. The benzos, it turns out, are just as highly addicting as the barbs, but they do have a much lower potential to cause death by overdose. […] The barbs became one of the most widely abused classes of drugs in the 1960s and 1970s.
barb⁴
- /bɑː(ɹ)b/
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)b
Where it comes from
Corruption of bard.
noun barbs
- Armor for a horse. The defensive armor with the horses of the ancient knights ... These are frequently, though improperly, stiled barbs.
verb barbs · barbing · barbed
- To cover a horse in armor. And now, in stead of mounting barbed steeds / To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, / He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber[…].
barb⁵
- /bɑː(ɹ)b/
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)b
Where it comes from
Clipping of barbarian.
noun barbs
- Clipping of barbarian The problem I had was the Balistas fired, (the barbs run too fast to get hit, but if they slow down, they are dead meat), and that was good, but I sent in two legions of Javelineers and none of them used their javelins! If they encountered the barbs hand to hand, they'd engage, but they just sat the
Barb⁶
Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)b
proper noun
- A diminutive of the female given name Barbara.
- A surname.
Barb⁷
Where it comes from
Clipping of Barbie, from Harajuku Barbie, an alter-ego of Nicki Minaj.
noun Barbz · Barbs
- A fan of American rapper and singer Nicki Minaj. Minaj is thrilled to be returning to her legion of Aussie Barbz this October in a brand new full-scale arena show.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shaft, dig, slam, shot, gibe, jibe, hook, ranch, beard, tooth, barbara, pointer, head, arrowhead, arrowpoint, point
Translations
Every language
noun point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc
| Español | lengüeta, pincho, púa, puya |
|---|---|
| Português | farpa |
| Français | ardillon |
| Deutsch | Widerhaken |
| Русский | шип šip, колю́чка koljúčka, зубе́ц zubéc |
| Tiếng Việt | ngạnh |
noun one of the side branches of a feather
| Español | barba |
|---|---|
| Português | barba |
| Français | barbe |
| Deutsch | Federast |
| Русский | боро́дка boródka |
noun fish of the cyprinid family
| Português | betara, papa-terra |
|---|---|
| Tiếng Việt | cá mè |
Talk about this word "barb." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/barb. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. barb. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/barb "barb." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/barb.Cite this
@misc{barb_2026,
title = {barb},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/barb},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
